?? July 2024 Newsletter: Engaging in Real Solutions, Holding Plastic Polluters Accountable & More ??

Resources for Plastic Free July & beyond

Dear Friends,

All of us at Plastic Pollution Coalition wish you a happy close to Plastic Free July as we recognize that every day, all year we work toward a more just, equitable world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts.?

Our website is filled with resources to help everyone embrace plastic-free solutions at home, school, work, and on-the-go. This includes our July webinar, during which our panelists discussed the landscape of plastic alternatives and described how regenerative materials are being used at a systems level for a healthier future. In the media this month, we weighed in on the movement to ban plastic production as a key solution to plastic pollution, as well as the importance of reducing exposure to plastics and chemicals during pregnancy.

We can begin to build a more just, equitable world free of plastic pollution by supporting strong policies locally, nationally, and internationally that address, above all, the core cause of plastic pollution: plastic production. There are now several major opportunities to address plastic pollution in the ways we need, including the global UN Plastics Treaty and the U.S. Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act. We are excited by some new developments that show us our leaders are listening, including the U.S. Government, which recently published a new plastic pollution strategy document. Our leaders still have a long way to go to address plastic pollution and environmental injustice, but we are hopeful to see some steps in the right direction.

There is no time to waste, with greenwashing common and corporations doing too little too late. Recently, we filed a complaint against Danone Waters of America, makers of evian bottled water, for misleadingly labeling their products as “natural” and “sustainable”—despite them containing toxic microplastics and BPA. And a landmark lawsuit we co-filed against major consumer goods companies for allegedly creating a public nuisance from their plastic packaging, polluting California waterways with plastic trash, has been greenlit to move forward in the California court system. We are educating and creating resources like our Global Plastic Laws database, all of which will help shift plastics policies in the right direction. Real solutions exist today, and we continue to push for them to be implemented.?

Onward,

Aidan Maguire

Coalition Program Manager

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